EA President: "We're Boring People to Death"

[FoolKiller]

Wow, the president at EA is saying this to the whole industry?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288657,00.html

From the story:

The video game executive criticized the industry for rolling out sequels to new games that add little from the previous version.

"For the most part, the industry has been rinse-and-repeat," he was quoted as saying. "There's been lots of product that looked like last year's product, that looked a lot like the year before."

Aren't these the same guys that make Madden, and bought exclusivity rights to be sure that no more innovative NFL games could compete with them? I mean, this is why I only buy a Madden game once every few years.

I'm kind of thinking that maybe EA needs to lead the way before it begins criticizing the industry.

I just find the irony funny.

 

[a6m5]

How about their Bond games? The quote does read, "We're Boring People to Death", so if "we" referred to EA, he'd be right on the money.

 

[V1P3R]

I wonder if they saw my gamer tag and motto...?

 

[Wolfe]

...if "we" referred to EA, he'd be right on the money.

That's what I thought he was saying when I saw the thread title.

 

[land sea air]

It's funny, but besides the obvious irony that EA games are getting rather old and lacking in quality, I believe that the opposite is somewhat true today as well, some games get dumbed down so anyone can pick them up and play and in the process some games become easier, the only example that readily springs to mind is resident evil, while the first two games rewarded those who take the time to check everything or made you think pretty damn hard on some of the puzzles, the more recent games have made objects stand out more readily and the fighting is more generic and less avoidable... I will agree that many series games are becoming boring but in that case there is usually a new game in the Genre thats as entertaining or more entertaining than older games

 

[Wolfe]

It's funny, but besides the obvious irony that EA games are getting rather old and lacking in quality...

Getting old and lacking in quality? They've been crap for quite a while -- it all started going downhill after the company changed their name from Electronic Arts to "EA."

Even in the 1990s their games were like Alfa Romeos -- buggy and somewhat poorly-designed, but nice to look at and still fun to play.

 

[a6m5]

I started my boycott of EA a year or two ago, when they started making headlines, buying up other makers and naming rights.

 

[Muzaffar]

The thing is,every game made by EA has outsold by other game makers.For instance,Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer has outsold many Fifa games (so far) and Need For Speed isn't even being compared to Test Drive or Enthusia.James Bond games is also very old and boring (even with the remake to the movies.)Lara Croft beat them as well (what can i say )If EA want to make such claims,go ahead but its not going to help them either (and probably make other game makers look good)....

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

I'm kind of thinking that maybe EA needs to lead the way before it begins criticizing the industry.

I just find the irony funny.

I couldn't agree more! (but it is also sad as EA has ruined games I used to really enjoy)

"There's been lots of products that looked like last year's product, that looked a lot like the year before."

Hasn't this been EA's unofficial mission statement/goal the last ten years?

When he was quoted as saying, "We're boring people to death and making games that are harder and harder to play." as well as indicating that EA is going to increase its focus on games other than $60 epics that require 40 hours or more of gameplay to finish... it sounds like he is making excuses why EA games are not epic, and do not offer many hours of original gameplay.

From what I could tel it just sounds like EA is planning on continue their strategy of releasing easy & cheap to develop (highly profitable) unoriginal games. If exclusive licenses were prohibited, EA would either fail miserably, or be forced to invest more into their games and not in their marketing and exclusive licenses. 👎

 

[Jim Prower]

oh, wow, hypocrite-o-rama. I can't think of anything else to say. It's all been said.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

How about their Bond games? The quote does read, "We're Boring People to Death", so if "we" referred to EA, he'd be right on the money.

The good news is that MGM has apparently used a clause in their exclusive contract with EA that allowed them to terminate the contract even though it was supposed to last through 2010. I don’t know if the specific clause was ever officially announced, but the rumor was that because EA failed to release a new Bond game to tie in with the release of Casino Royale, that allowed MGM to cancel the exclusive contract they had with EA. 👍

Regardless, last year Activision acquired non-exclusive rights to develop and publish James Bond games and will apparently have exclusive rights to future Bond games when EA's non-exclusive contract is officially terminated, which is supposed to happen later this year.

While I would prefer no one get exclusive rights to any franchise, as competition breeds quality products, at least this game series is out of the hands of EA! 👍

Activision has said they'll have their first Bond game out in time for the release of the next Bond film, which is currently slated for a late 2008 release date.

Let's hope they make something really special... and epic... and over 40 hours of gameplay!

 

[RICHARDO]

"Games becoming harder and harder"

I'm no 1337 gamer, but games sure as hell aren't getting harder.

Lets compare two games from the same series: Resident Evil 3 (my favorite ) on Heavy diffuculty. (The hardest in case you ask.) To Resident Evil 4 on PRO mode. In RE3, you had to be much more careful about how you approach things. In RE4, even if you completely fail, you can retry from a save point not 5 minutes away.

Older games usually require more trial and error than new games, whether that's good or bad is for you to decide. Because the mainstream crowd has a short attention span, the designers make the game pretty and easy going, so you don't work up a sweat and lose.

BTW, Gears Of War dosen't count.

 

[Wolfe]

"Games becoming harder and harder"

I'm no 1337 gamer, but games sure as hell aren't getting harder.

There are some games coming out that are sort of a throwback to the old days, when not everyone was expected to be able to make it to the end. Although they're a bit old by now, Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden come to mind.

 

[FoolKiller]

Perhaps I shouldn't have posted this just before vacation.


Anyway, I was thinking of getting the next Madden for the Wii (yep, that would make two in a row) just because it would be online, but then I saw some ads for Pro Football 2k8. One video, just one, and I remembered why I preferred the 2K series. And if they do the cheaper price as well then I am all over that game and will be able to say goodbye to Madden forever.

I just know that The last Madden game I owned before my Wii was 2002. I bought 2007 with my Wii and even on "next gen" it felt like it was the same game. Five years and the game had barely changed. I fail to see how the NFL license benefited gamers like they claimed it would.

What cracks me up even more is he is making this claim while small $5 to $10 games are becoming available for the download services on the next gen consoles. Anyone who says that games are getting too complicated and boring hasn't played Super Stardust HD. He might also want to pick up Wii Sports.


As for the Bond games, I never played them because when I saw others playing I failed to see what made it different from other FPSs. It never seemed like it was James Bond so much as it was an FPS with a Bond title.

 

[McLaren]

The thing is,every game made by EA has outsold by other game makers.For instance,Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer has outsold many Fifa games (so far) and Need For Speed isn't even being compared to Test Drive or Enthusia.James Bond games is also very old and boring (even with the remake to the movies.)Lara Croft beat them as well (what can i say )If EA want to make such claims,go ahead but its not going to help them either (and probably make other game makers look good)....

Well, outselling your competition isn't exactly hard when you buy the license to crap for 4 years, and then end up with only one competitor.

 

[Puke]

It's about time that they realized it.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

It looks like EA isn't spending their money very wisely.

In EA's recent SEC fillings it was revealed that EA paid Peter Moore a $1.5 million bonus to head their Sport Division and gave him a base salary of $550,000 a year with a discretionary target bonus worth up to an additional $412,500 each year.

While you certainly can't blame Peter Moore for all the problems Microsoft is having with their Xbox division, but you also can't say he has done enough to warrant that kind of contract.

However, if he is able to turn things around at EA and they start making some above average sports games I'll gladly be the first to congratulate them on their decision.

 

[Tornado]

I started my boycott of EA a year or two ago, when they started making headlines, buying up other makers and naming rights.

I can't quite remember when my EA boycott started, but it had something to do with them tarnishing both the Burnout series and Need For Speed series simultaneously.

However, if he is able to turn things around at EA and they start making some above average sports games I'll gladly be the first to congratulate them on their decision.

More than likely that if EA turn themselves around, Moore will get the credit for it despite doing nothing. Like the Dreamcast launch. And the XBox success. And the XBox 360 launch.